I am Brenda Espinosa, postdoctoral researcher affiliated to the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT) at Tilburg University. I have a background in law and my fields of expertise and interest include business law, law and technology, the regulation of network industries and data governance.
For my PhD research (2018-2022), I investigated the regulatory challenges brought by data-driven innovation and the complexities of regulating data sharing in the context of the digitalized utilities (drinking water and electricity). My PhD research was part of ‘LONGA VIA’, a research project sponsored by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and five operators of critical infrastructures in the Netherlands: Alliander, Vitens, Port of Rotterdam, ProRail and Rijkswaterstaat.
I have dedicated an important part of my research to explore the interaction between electricity legislation and personal data protection, and to examine the law and policy applicable to data sharing in the European Union and the Netherlands. I am bringing this knowledge to Research Track 9 of the MEGAMIND project: “Responsible data and AI governance”. For this project, I will investigate legal and ethical aspects necessary to develop a governance framework for data and AI models used in the electricity sector, to ensure that core values such as energy justice, privacy, fairness, accessibility, transparency and responsibility, are safeguarded.
I am very excited to be part of MEGAMIND because it is an ambitious interdisciplinary research project dealing with questions of high relevance for society. I am looking forward to learn from and cooperate with researchers with various backgrounds, and to continue expanding my knowledge of the (regulation of the) electricity sector and the use of data-driven innovation.
